Seeds, seeds, seeds. It all starts with power and who controls the seeds. But who is actually building scalable companies in this space? Today we have one: a decentralised seed company in Uganda that only works with indigenous seeds, is farmer-owned, and gives power, value, and control back to the farmers. The farmers are trained to select seeds and to grow them, and Emmanuel Luwemba, the founder of Eden Seeds, helps sell the best varieties to other farmers without extracting all life from the countryside like most seed companies do.

What about yields? Emmanuel went deep into what farmers actually need. Of course, yield is important, but so is profitability. Dirty little secret: hybrid seeds are often very expensive and need a lot of very expensive inputs to perform. They often don’t perform in challenging circumstances (droughts, extreme weather, etc). Taste, flavour, and nutrition are important too. Indigenous seeds are naturally high in iron, for example and there’s no need for a multimillion-dollar, donor-funded GMO or CRISPR project to change hybrid seeds to add extra iron. Just breed, grow, and eat the indigenous variety selected over time for iron. That’s not to say we can’t develop these seeds further or that they are frozen in time, of course we can and should. If indigenous seeds got a quarter of the funding hybrids get, they would outperform everyone.

This episode is part of The African Regenerative Frontrunners series is supported by Rootical and co-hosted by The Organic Guy. 

GROWING WORMS WAS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS EMMA HAS EVER MADE

Emmanuel’s journey into regenerative agriculture was significantly shaped by a university project on earthworms, which not only changed his thinking but also helped him land his first job by offering a unique skill.

“I was just lucky that I just went in. I just said, “Let me go in; let me try to do my special project, and I graduate.” But in the end, I find that was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life because it has changed the way I think about agriculture, the way I think about communities and the way I think about the environment.” Emmanuel Luwemba

INDIGENOUS SEEDS ARE MORE NUTRITIOUS

Indigenous seeds offer a diversity of nutrients that cannot be found in a single hybrid variety, and a varied diet based on these seeds provides comprehensive health benefits that our ancestors enjoyed.

“What we are looking for in supplements can be gotten from food… our generations before us used to live, and they were much healthier, and life was good. But here we are stuck on new trends, new varieties that are only specifically with some nutrients and not others. Yet we had these indigenous seeds having a variety of nutrients.” Emmanuel Luwemba

INDIGENOUS SEEDS ARE MORE PROFITABLE

While hybrid seeds may have a higher yield on paper, while indigenous seeds are often more economical for the farmer when you factor in the high cost of inputs required for hybrids, making them a financially sound choice.

“It is very true that indigenous seeds will not compete at the same front with the hybrid when it comes to yield, but where the economics come in terms of input, how much are you buying the seed for hybrid? The maintenance, the pest pressure that comes with it. So, if you do a cost-benefit analysis, you find that the indigenous either are competing at the same level or slightly lower.” Emmanuel Luwemba

INVEST WHERE REGENERATION IS ALREADY HAPPENING

When asked what he would do with a billion dollars, Emmanuel emphasises the importance of patient capital and supporting the grassroots efforts and local businesses that are already successfully practising regenerative agriculture.

“I would invest where regeneration is already happening. I would invest in those local seed businesses. I would also focus a lot on policy engagement because regenerative agriculture is social before it’s technical. So, if we understand the communities– how are they surviving, how are they doing things– and then invest in such practices, we can really create a lot more impact.” Emmanuel Luwemba

OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED

Koen and Emmanuel also talked about:

• Decentralized, steward-owned model
• Regenerative agriculture is social before it’s technical
• Why seeds are the basis of everything

LINKS:

• Eden Seeds – Cultivating Heritage

LINKED INTERVIEWS:

• Armin Steuernagel on how to keep a mission driven company independent and raise capital
• Joachim Ewechu and Hannes Van den Eeckhout – Why Uganda is the best place for a locally owned regenerative agriculture revolution
• Nicolas Enjalbert – Let’s disrupt the oligopoly seeds industry, currently bad for everyone, people, planet and flavour
• Dan Barber – AI-Powered natural breeding: The End of GMOs, Gene Editing, and CRISPR?
• Bart van der Zande – A venture studio is the solution to all our regenerative challenges

——————————————

Feedback, comments, suggestions? Reach me via Twitter @KoenvanSeijen, in the comments below or through Get in Touch on this website.

Join the Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food newsletter on www.eepurl.com/cxU33P

The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.